Author: Jay the Ent-Larch

nonbinary they/them mystical forest cryptid & merwrangler with Orange Cat Energy INGREDIENTS: coffee, books, music, podcasts, NPR, cats, movies, the Oxford comma, and comfort shows - - - WARNING: may contain nuts

Twenty Minute Rabbit Trail

Down the Rabbit Trail

What have I gotten myself into? Upon returning from my hiatus, I caught up on my reading and stumbled on the Blogging 101 series. Sorry that I missed it, I decided to sign up for Writing 101. After all, what harm could it do to sign up for a course that will challenge my writing? So here I am on Day 1 with my first writing challenge: a twenty minute stream of consciousness followed by the publish button. I worry about people reading articles I’ve spent a week writing, and now you want me to publish an unedited document that I wrote in twenty minutes? Thanks a lot, WordPress.

Summer has officially begun for this teacher, and that means three things (for me):

  • Working on next year’s courses (I’m expanding Geography, again)
  • Making a dent on my “to read” list (find me on Goodreads)
  • Binge-watching TV-on-dvd (right now it’s NCIS)

I’ll also be working on home improvements, picking up some odd jobs here and there, and enjoying some summer cultural opportunities. Last night I caught the free North Carolina Symphony concert at Tryon Palace. The symphony performed Aaron Copland’s “An Outdoor Overture”, Mizeslo’s “Selections from Pinehurst”, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. With the exception of extremely annoying children trying to catch fireflies in über-crunchy leaves, I enjoyed it immensely. However, I must admit that I was tempted to break out my crotchety-old-man routine.

Back to that book list, though. I just finished reading The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy and am currently working on The Physics of Superheroes (combining business and pleasure FTW!) and House of Cards. My good friend Amanda Cale has just published her first novel, Riddle, and I’m looking forward to reading that as well (probably in hardback). I also want to read An Onslaught of Spears, but am having a difficult time tracking down an affordable copy (you’ve failed me, EBay, Amazon, and AbeBooks!)

To go along with my reading I have some delicious German coffee, brought to me from Europe by one of my graduating seniors. She also found me some salted caramel chocolate, my second-favorite chocolate in the whole world (my favorite is Kinder Schokolade).

The beginning of summer also means more home cooking. Breakfast will still be a bagel and coffee, but since I will no longer receive school lunches, my wife and I will cook more at home and save the leftovers for other meals. To be fair, we do this when eating out, too. Rarely will we order something we can’t get two (or more) meals out of.

There’s two places I really like to eat at: Buffalo Wild Wings for wings half Thai Curry sauce and half Lemon Pepper rub and 37th Street (a local Italian-American restaurant) for a 10-inch calzone with pepperoni, green peppers, and mushrooms. This in one of the few times I get mushrooms since Krystal doesn’t like them at all. They also make the most amazing house ranch I’ve ever had, and they sell it by the jar. I don’t think I’ve bought store ranch in two years. The only way it could get better is if they offered bacon, which they don’t.

Well, I just ran out of coffee and my timer hasn’t yet gone off. Curses. I have to go shopping anyway, Smokey needs food. Wait, strike that. I have a bag of Dunkin Dark and half a bag of filters. Salvation! (The German coffee is to be enjoyed only while reading).

My alarm just informed me that my twenty minutes is up. See you tomorrow.

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 1: Write stream-of-consciousness for twenty minutes and then publish it. The writing has not been altered for grammar, spelling, or formatting. Only the links and images were added post-production.

Memorial Day 2014

New Bern National Cemetery
National Cemetery –  New Bern, North Carolina

 

Memorial Day

Marble monuments –

Row on row and name on name –

Honoring the dead

– J.E. 2014

 

What did you learn this year?

classroom_desks
Photographer: dcJohn | edited by the author

Final exams start tomorrow. Nine months ago I challenged my students with this phrase: “I don’t expect you to think like me, but I do expect you to think!” Tonight, I wonder not just how much they learned, but also what they learned.

Too often the social sciences place too much emphasis on facts alone. Describe the three regions of North Carolina. Name the seven continents and four oceans. Define the three eras of human history. List the American Presidents. Explain the steps a bill takes to become a law. These facts may be deemed important for the test, but are they actually significant for life? Do not ideas and concepts trump facts and minutiae? For example, which matters more: knowing the date a war began, or knowing the causes that led to war?

As historians, we are ultimately the keepers of philosophy. We preserve the why and the wherefore for future generations. So while I earnestly hope my students have retained the required facts, I also hope they learned to be better citizens of the world.

Geography should teach more than continents, climates, and cultures. It should impart a sense of place and belonging, an understanding of where we fit in the rich tapestry of nations. Imagination should ignite some spark of interest to visit new lands, acquire a new language, meet new people, and taste new food. Even if one must be an armchair traveler with Rick Steves or Burt Wolf, don’t just hang on for the ride.

History is more than a never-ending list of people, places, and philosophies. It is a study in how man has answered those questions posed by Aristotle and Plato so many centuries ago: what is the best way to live and  how does one live that life? In understanding how man has answered these questions in the past we come to understand the present world around us. It is only by understanding the world around us that we can strive to make it better.

Ultimately, the exams I give will only test my students’ memory skills. Their lives will show what they have learned.

 

The Ballad of Magellan

In working on an article about how cartoons teach history, I came across one of the first historically-themed songs I remember learning. For your enjoyment, I present “The Ballad of Magellan” as performed by the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister!).

The Ballad of Magellan

Lyrics by John P. McCann and Paul Rugg; harmonies arranged by Julie Bernstein.

For best results, sing to the tune of “Git Along, Little Doggies.”

There once was a man, his name was Magellan.
A Portuguese skipper, the girls found him cute.
He sailed with five ships to find the East Indies
Then come back to Spain with a bounty of loot.
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, oh, happy Magellan!
Starting your journey with hardly a care!
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, strong, brave Magellan,
You’ll find the East Indies, you just don’t know where!
They crossed the Atlantic and spotted a country.
Magellan said…
It’s the East Indies at last!
But then someone shouted…
Hey, that’s Argentina!
Magellan got cranky and chopped down the mast.
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, settle down, Magellan.
Put down that ax! There’s no time to despair.
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, keep trying, Magellan,
You’ll find the East Indies, you just don’t know where!
A great storm arose in the mighty Pacific.
The five little ships were diminished to three.
At last, land was sighted. Magellan was happy.
But then someone shouted…
Hey, that’s Chile!
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, cheer up, Magellan.
Check out your map and don’t tear out your hair!
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, keep trying, Magellan,
You’ll find the East Indies, you just don’t know where!
It took them five months, but they crossed the Pacific.
They spotted a land that was dotted with palms.
Magellan proclaimed…
Yes! That’s the East Indies!
But then someone shouted…
Hey, I think that’s Guam!
Ai yi yi yi, oops, Magellan!
Your fun little journey’s become a nightmare!
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, keep trying, Magellan,
You’ll find the East Indies, you just don’t know where!
They sailed due west to the Philippine Islands.
Magellan was pleased as the natives drew near.
But then someone shouted…
I think they’re attacking!
Magellan said…
What?
And got hit by a spear.
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, farewell, Magellan!
You almost made it! It’s really not fair!
Whoopi-ti-yi-yo, oh, ghost of Magellan,
The East Indies Islands were right over there!

Abort, Retry, Fail?_

Some bloggers make excuses after a long hiatus, but I have no excuses to make. For the last three months I have been playing Skyrim and binge watching old television shows on Netflix.

While not purposefully avoiding the blog, I have been avoiding the “publish” button. Let me explain.

I first started Running In My Head a little over a year ago as a result of the Boston Marathon bombings. I had intended to simply vent my feelings into the void of cyberspace, never anticipating that people would actually want to read what I had to say.

For the first few months, my most popular piece was a character sketch of Javert (still my favorite piece thus far). I was happy in my relative anonymity and for the few readers who found my musings worthwhile.

Then came the email from a WordPress editor: I was going to be Freshly Pressed! Which of my intellectual endeavors had made the cut? None of them. The piece featured was a comedy list based on Month Python and the Holy Grail. It’s not that I didn’t like the piece, it’s that I’m not generally funny. I can kill a joke faster than the bubonic plague swept through Europe. To have all those people seeing something that took me weeks to write and probably couldn’t duplicate stressed me.

Next came the followers. After being featured, I jumped from 15 or so followers to over 1000. I know that might seem like a large number, but many of those accounts appeared to be spam or marketing accounts. By my estimate, I have around 600 actual human followers.

Finally, reality set in. I had a blog, I had followers, and I didn’t want to lose them. From browsing the information available, I realized I had reached a wide and varied audience. What if they left negative comments? What if I offended them? What if a flame war began? What if they hit the unsubscribe button?

I determined to post with confidence and let the chips fall where they may. Easier said than done. Remember how I said I’d been avoiding the publishing button? I’ve written (or begun to write) articles on subjects like

  • Microagression
  • Dante’s Divine Comedy written as journal entries
  • Excerpts from my nonfiction work about Enlightenment philosophy and WWII
  • Common Core
  • Repealing the 22nd Amendment
  • Voter ID laws
  • History as taught through cartoons

So why didn’t I publish? I felt burned out and didn’t want the blog to be a chore or something I did for other people. I wanted to enjoy it again. Now that I’m back, I plan on following my previous schedule of one guaranteed post per week.

Thanks for sticking around.

 

Well, I’m back

I just wanted to let my wonderful subscribers know that I have returned after a 3-month hiatus. Look for a new post this weekend!

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